Heading home I really wanted to stop somewhere to see something fishy. Driving from Titusville to Newark for work puts me over or near several striped bass holding bodies of water. The Delaware, Raritan, Rahway, Hackensack, and Passaic Rivers and the Raritan Bay. While most anglers are keyed into the beach this time of year there are plenty who stick to their guns and fish more west than east. If there's bait that hasn't budged yet then it could be where its at.
Perth Amboy is a quick detour off Exit 11 off the New Jersey Turnpike for me. while I'm always tempted to hit the beach I knew it would make for a long night and I was beat from work and I'm not convinced enough to push the limits and sleep deprivation to take the longer drive and extended hours of fishing. So this would do, and it did just fine.
I stopped and chatted with the guy who owns the 14 foot canoe pictured above. He takes his craft out a bit into the channel where "the big ones are". He added, "It may not be the smartest thing but it works, plus it was free on Facebook Marketplace". He added a fish finder which helps locate the fish next all the abutments that dissect the water under the bridges.
I was there about an hour after the dead low and it was a good time to scout around. I thought about dressing but I wasn't feeling it. I watched the water for a while and enjoyed the sunset. The night crew, most soaking bait, were just arriving and setting up for a flood tide soak.
The water was flat and you could see bottom if you looked and there was no sign of bait or bass. I recall one December night a few years back where I was literally swimming with the fishes, large adult bunker to be exact. I threw large flies with no luck but sometimes all you need is bait around to pique your interest and keep you in the game.
And tomorrow down in Beaufort, SC the ASMFC will hold it's 81st Annual Meeting, which includes the Striped Bass Board meeting. They'll talk about the above and Amendment II. The elephant in the room no doubt with be Maryland's YOU survey which is the second lowest since they starting surveying and reporting.
Above you can see how the recruitment numbers have been going. The Chesapeake and it's tributaries are the primary, at least everyone says that, natal grounds for striped bass each spring. The numbers are down period. And the last years at the 11.1 target were 2017 and 2018. The last solid year was 2015, and that is the year class the current 28-31" is trying to protect. But if you look below, the fish that can be legally harvested are 6-8 years old, which are the 2017 & 18 year class fish. The 2011
fish are the the 12-14 year old fish and the 50 inch fish, 18 years old, are the 2005 class. Something has to change here because those that are the meat hunters are finger f'ing all the "they're too big fish" looking for that slot fish, which are hard to come by. Now, some may say that's because those slot sized fish haven't "arrived" yet, and this first push of fish are the big girls heading south.
We'll see how the ASMFC punts this away. They'll attribute this to a poor spawning year due to climate change or environmental factors in the bay and tribs, and not on the harvesting of 19" fish in the Chesapeake and it's rivers. And New Jersey, where striped bass have Gamefish status, which those pushing for lighter regs hang their hats on, has that Bonus Tag program where the minimum size is 24 inches.
"But we don't have a commercial striped bass fishery", yes, that is true. And there might be something to be said for that as recently I saw a post from well known New York guide Bill Wetzel who posted the below,
He sums it up below,
I can't imagine fishing in New Jersey say in Belmar and sharing the beach with this commercial fishing gill netting crew. New York is the only state that allows gill netting for striped bass. The below video was posted by Zeno on Surfcaster's Journal about 10 years ago. Still relevant. Still a shame. I thought fly fishing next to spin fisherman was frustrating......
So we'll see what the happens tomorrow. Maybe the ASMFC will take a peek at their website before the meeting and brush up on what they allegedly stand for. Their website is HERE.
